Poder, gênero, resistência, proteção social e memória : aspectos da socialização de lésbicas e gays em torno de um reservado em São João de Meriti, no início da década de 1980

Abstract

This thesis aimed at examining the experience and meanings of a space of sociability for gays and lesbians in São João de Meriti, Brazil, in 1982. Data for this research were collected from documentary, oral and iconographic sources. Oral history, Norbert Elias' social dynamics of stigmatization and Michel de Certeaus's daily resistance ideas were the methodological and theoretical base of the study. Data showed that those who participated in that space of sociability had strong abilities in building networks and alliances as well as ludic potential. The data also showed that the networks possessed a strategic importance as a provider of high self-esteem, social mobility, mutual protection, political consciousness and social capital. They also brought to light the existence of distinct sex and gender systems in the interaction of heterosexuals and homosexuals. Such systems were strong enough to organize both the forms of social and sexual interaction and the space itself. We concluded that spaces of sociability for homosexuals represent an important political and social instrument capable of stimulate not only consciousness and political participation but also ssociativism and trust. Besides, they constitute strategic forms for the elaboration and dissemination of social protection' projects and policies.